HARD AS NAILS
‘Lions of Panjshir’ resistance fighters train SAS-style in mountain fortress as they vow to crush the Taliban
RESISTANCE fighters in Afghanistan have vowed to continue their fight against the Taliban as they train in SAS-style in a mountain fortress just north of Kabul.
The "Lions of Panjshir" were seen balancing wooden logs on their shoulders while wading through water as they prepared for the arrival of enemy forces.
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The Panjshir Valley, located in the Hindu Kush mountains, is the last region holding out against the Taliban.
Elsewhere in the valley, other resistance military forces were seen carrying weapons and marching through the mountainous terrain.
Hundreds of the anti-Taliban fighters, known as the Northern Alliance, have vowed to crush the jihadi rulers and to defend the 170,000 residents of the Panjshir Valley.
Last week, it was claimed that the Taliban retreated from the valley after an embarrassing defeat by the Afghan resistance forces.
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The Taliban said it had sent hundreds of fighters to the region after they claimed that local state officials refused to hand it over peacefully.
Ali Nazary, head of the foreign relations for a coalition of anti-Taliban groups, told the that opposition fighters had defeated the Taliban in the region.
“They were trying to attack Panjshir, but they were unable to do that,” said Nazary of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan.
However, the Taliban's spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed that there had been no fighting in Panjshir yet and that the Taliban are seeking a peaceful solution.
Several Taliban opponents have gathered in the Panjshir Valley, including Amrullah Saleh, the vice president in the toppled government who claims to be the acting president.
In a Twitter message to Afghans, Saleh said: "Join the resistance. I will never, ever and under no circumstances bow to Talib terrorists."
He has vowed to resist after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country - reportedly escaping with bags of cash worth up to $169million.
Ahmad Massoud, son of the slain commander of the Northern Alliance militias that partnered with the U.S. to drive the Taliban from power in 2001, is also in Panjshir.
In interviews with Arab media outlets over the weekend, Massoud said his fighters would resist any attempt to take the province by force but were open to dialogue with the Taliban.
It is believed that the Northern Alliance are being sponsored by its neighbouring country Tajikistan after a picture showed a Tajik chopper land in the valley.
In a tweet from the resistance fighter's military social media account, they said: "Earlier this morning, resistance forces got a first support from Tajikistan helicopters have imported enough equipment, guns, full-ammunitions & foods.
"The morale of the resistance is high.
"We are grateful to our neighbour for all the support they started since [the] beginning."
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Taliban Special Forces retreat in embarrassing defeat to Afghan commandos as resistance hold out in mountain fortress
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